An Antigen-Antibody Reaction with Tetrahymena which Results in Dystomy

Abstract

Tetrahymena showed agglutinative, paralytic and sheath-formation reactions when incubated 1-2 hrs. in mixtures with antisera of appropriate dilutions. In higher dilutions and further incubation there was a sharp and progressive increase in the no. of cells in division (up to 80%) compared to the no. of young and mature cells not in division. Continued incubation, up to 24 hrs., resulted in chains or multinucleated monsters. The reaction appeared to be an antigen-antibody process. It occurred and exclusively so in all combinations of organisms and antisera in which the reactions descr. by Robertson occurred.